CHICAGO -- The first bullpen test for Kodai Senga was a late-game leverage situation, then a save situation, then another and another and another. Until Sunday afternoon, Senga passed every one of them.
Then came the ninth inning at Rate Field, where earlier in the day, Senga told Mets interim manager Andy Green that he would be available if needed. Green considered it a fine opportunity to test Senga, a converted starting pitcher, with appearances on back-to-back days for the first time in his career.
Rather than thrive, however, Senga flashed reduced velocity and erratic control against the White Sox, falling behind both of his hitters before serving up a walk-off homer to Tristan Peters in a 2-1 loss.
“For him, it was good to get that under the belt and have done that,” Green said of the consecutive appearances. “Overall, Senga’s got something done now that he didn’t have done, and that’s good for us.”
In the short term, the Mets aren’t looking at Senga’s results so much as his process. Regular closer Devin Williams should return in September, at which point Senga will cease pitching the ninth inning. Longer term, though, Senga could serve as a late-game weapon for the Mets in 2027, so team officials want to see if he’s capable of thriving in that role.
That means pitching in high-pressure situations. It also means appearing in consecutive games -- eventually, maybe even three out of four or three in a row. As a starting pitcher, Senga never had to do those types of things; to the contrary, he often required an extra day of rest between starts. Pitching out of the bullpen has forced him to be adaptable.
Before Sunday’s loss, Senga told Green and pitching coach Justin Willard that he would be available. Sure enough, a high-leverage opportunity arose when Jared Young hit a game-tying RBI single in the top of the ninth. With a team off-day scheduled for Monday, Green considered it a perfect opportunity to test Senga with a second straight appearance.
“I felt good today, had no doubts being out on the mound, believed that I could do it,” Senga said through an interpreter. “It was partly my decision to go out there, to say that I’m ready to pitch today.”
From the jump, however, Senga looked like a diminished version of himself. His first two fastballs, both outside the strike zone, clocked in under 96 mph -- several ticks less than his high-water mark as a reliever. Though Senga eventually retired Chase Meidroth on a cutter, he fell behind his second hitter, Peters, on three straight pitches out of the zone. Then, at 3-1, Senga caught too much plate with a 96 mph fastball, which Peters deposited over the center-field fence.
“I had a moment of realization that I’m in a position where the game could end potentially with one pitch, one swing of the bat,” Senga said of his thought process on the mound. “Seeing the ball like that, it just kind of dawned on me again that that’s the type of role that I’m playing right now.”
Despite the velocity drop and control issues, Senga said he had “no big issues being out on the mound” for a second consecutive day. And while Green didn’t commit to using the right-hander again in consecutive games, he has acknowledged a curiosity about Senga in this role. With Williams on the injured list and the Mets out of contention, there’s little reason for him not to keep trying.
Ultimately, Green said, future opportunities will depend upon how Senga feels. He’s still 4-for-4 in save chances with a 2.45 ERA since converting full-time to leverage relief work at the beginning of August.
“Much more than what happened today, it’s, ‘How do you feel in the next couple of days?’” Green said. “Obviously we have a day off [Monday], so this lined up really nicely to give him the opportunity to do that, and now we’ll just check how he feels. I know right now he’s disappointed for the results, but for us, it’s a step forward.”